by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

JERSEY CITY - Russell Wilson recalled his trip to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012, when the NFL held its rookie symposium in Canton, Ohio, to help the new bloods connect with NFL history.

He stared at Warren Moon's bust, and it struck a nerve.

"It made me appreciate all the amazing things he's done," Wilson told USA TODAY Sports, as he geared up to lead the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII. "It represents how great of a player that he was."

Wilson hardly realized then how that bust would come to life for him as he potentially embarks on his own path to greatness.

During his two seasons with the Seahawks, Wilson has developed a special relationship with Moon, who works as an analyst for the team's radio network.

He is so fortunate. Wilson has been blessed with big hands, a cannon arm, Houdini-like escape skills and an in-house mentor to supplement the efforts of the coaching staff.

"To have a guy like Warren Moon to get knowledge from, to grab nuggets from," Wilson said, "it's a one-of-a-kind benefit to have that at my back door."

Or when flying cross-country.

It just so happens there is always an empty seat next to Moon on the Seahawks' chartered flights for road trips. How convenient.

How much is

that

worth?

Moon laughs at the question.

"It's priceless," he told USA TODAY Sports by phone from Seattle on Monday. "You never know. It might help. But it may not have anything at all to do with the success that he's had."

At this point, with Wilson, 25, having a chance to upstage Peyton Manning and win a Super Bowl in his second season, the input from Moon is undoubtedly a positive. Moon is like an extra pair of eyes, sharing his own keen observations about everything from mechanics to defensive strategies to the demands of the most pressure-packed position in sports.

He has been a sounding board, the person the young quarterback can vent to - as was the case early in his rookie season when he thought he could handle a bigger portion of the playbook.

"The kid is just a sponge," Moon said. "He wants as much information as he can get."

The relationship developed naturally. Moon saw something special when he got his first glimpse of Wilson at the minicamp shortly after the Seahawks drafted him in the third round.

Yet rather than offering unsolicited advice, he merely told Wilson he would always be available as a resource as they exchanged numbers.

Before long, they were texting back and forth. Then talking football face to face.

Moon is mindful Wilson does have a quarterbacks coach in Carl Smith and a coordinator in Darrell Bevell. He won't discuss any specifics about Wilson's mechanics until Wilson has reviewed the videotape from the game. Yet Moon fully realizes there's something he can offer from once being in Wilson's type of shoes as an NFL quarterback.

"He always says work on your footwork and work with your guys," Wilson said. "Those are the two things that I'd say he's been most influential with."

It's striking that Moon has stressed the personal relationships with teammates. Wilson is a disciplined player who is comfortable operating within a structured routine. That's what you'd want from your quarterback, and Manning is a classic example of that.

Yet Moon knows that given the demands of the job, it can also be easy for a quarterback to become unintentionally alienated. So, following Moon's advice, Wilson is more prone to carve out time to review film with teammates, and he has tried to enhance communication on the practice field.

"All of those things are vital to your success," Wilson said.

But it extends beyond the office. Moon has urged Wilson to engage socially with his teammates, too. When Moon played, he would sometimes join his offensive line for beers after practice or tag along on dinner night with the defensive backs. It's part of the leadership.

"As a quarterback, you have to give more of yourself to teammates," Moon said. "They've got to play for you, and if they like you they are going to play even better. They'll be more apt to go to bat for you when the chips are down."

When Moon, undrafted by the NFL, broke into pro football with the Edmonton Eskimos, veteran quarterback Tom Wilkerson took him under his wings and showed him the ropes of the Canadian game. That is more revealing when considering the circumstances: Moon split time with the 36-year-old Wilkerson before assuming all of the job on the way to multiple Grey Cup titles.

Moon ultimately got his chance in the NFL, and in 2006 became the first African-American quarterback inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That distinction adds a layer to his relationship with Wilson, an African-American who happens to be one of the NFL's next-generation stars.

There is less attention on the racial component of Wilson's status â?? as the fifth African-American quarterback to play in a Super Bowl, he is an undeniable example of the progress made over the years in dismantling barriers that once prevented opportunity.

And you don't have to remind Moon that Wilson can become the second African-American signal caller to win a Super Bowl, more than a quarter-century after Doug Williams left a historic footprint in Super Bowl XXII.

"When Doug Williams did it, I was envious," Moon said. "I wanted to be the first. But I was glad he did it, because somebody needed to do it. Now someone else has to win it."

Given the history, that's important to Moon - and to Williams.

"It's important for the history of the game, not just for African-Americans," Williams told USA TODAY Sports on Monday. "I don't know if there's as much emphasis on it, like there was when Steve McNair and Donovan McNabb played in the Super Bowl (as the second and third African-American quarterbacks). But it still means a lot.

"And I think if you had told me back in '88 - and thinking about all of the young guns that came up since then â?? that it would be more than 25 years when another one would win a Super Bowl, I wouldn't have believed it."

Moon never came close to making that history as a player. But as a mentor, he's still in the game.